Chart Chat always welcomes your
points of view even if your thoughts are
different from ours. Click THE BUTTON
 |
These
are unpredictable times in which we live,
and the charts are all the better for it.
Two remixes of the same song in the top
ten ('Operation Blade' by Public Domain
and 'Phatt Bass' by Warp Brothers) and
who would have thought that Melanie C
would only make number 18? |
This week sees a battle between
two musicians at completely different ends of the
spectrum - there probably has not been a
competition between two such diverse artists!
Who am I talking about...
Eminem is no stranger to
controversy. His first single 'My Name Is...'
sparked a lawsuit from his own Mother following
his line that "she does more drugs than I (Eminem)
do". It will be interesting to see him
demonstrate that point! His second single 'Guilty
Conscience' dealt with his split personality Slim
Shady who encouraged him to blast his cheating
girlfriend in the head. 'The Real Slim
Shady' was number one earlier this year and
caused a stir after he bad mouthed both Britney and
Christina while his follow up told his fans where
to go when he was out with his family. That
brings us to 'Stan', a song so disturbing it
comes with its own warning before any radio play.
It deals with an obsessive fan who eventually
kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend just
because Eminem won't reply to his letters.
It's a powerful, gripping and well delivered song
which is almost guaranteed the number one status
this week, his third single to do so from just
five outings.
His main rival? It's none
other than Bob the Builder. Yes, THE Bob
the Builder. The one from Children's
Television has released one of those "hate
it but can't stop singing it records".
Entitled 'Can We Fix It', it's unlikely to grace
local clubs up and down the country, nor are you
likely to find it in Pete Tong's record box.
That said, dismiss its chances of the Christmas
number one at your peril! Children don't
usually buy records, so anything could happen
sales wise this week. Imagine if Bob beat
Westlife? I would certainly buy a copy if I
thought he could!
Britney Spears may be
disappointed that she is not included among those
who may enter at the top, but 'Stronger' won't
disgrace her and should keep up her run of top
five hits. Of course the video is "even
sexier" than the last and will be on
Satellite music channels non stop for the next
month but being predictable can be ok. She
has a winning formula, so why change it. It's
every bit as good as her other singles and will
no doubt help her to win her way into many more
festive stockings later this month.
Sounding a little like Bob Marley
comes Wyclef Jean with the fantastic '911'.
It's well produced and well sung - just showing
how good dance music really can be. It won't
be found in the higher reaches of the top ten
sadly but I would expect to see it the right side
of the top twenty. Mary J Blige drops in to
help out on vocals and the result is a single
that everyone reading this should own!
Further
down the chart but still sounding fine are Reef
who come back this week with 'Super Hero'.
They are an immensely talented band and 'Set The
Record Straight' was a definite return to form.
However their new effort drops short of that
standard and is not the record that will prevent
Terrorvision from reclaiming their crown as the
UK's number one rock act, something I expect them
to do early in the new year.
His
'Thong Song' will remind us all of Summer 2000
but will Sisqo's new offering 'Incomplete' do the
same for the festive season? It's not
really too likely as while Wyclef Jean is oozing
class and soulfulness this seems drab and dreary
from a man who has produced some of the best
dance music aired this year.
Finally
we should mention Jay-Z who returns without any
obscure 'Annie' or 'Oliver' samples on 'I Just
Wanna Love You'. It should be better than
his two 'novelty' songs but without the catchy
hooklines Jay-Z sounds bland and bored just like
Sisqo. I wouldn't recommend you hurry out
to buy it.
So a week high on quality and
interest, but relatively low on releases.
Westlife must remain favourites to top the charts
on Sunday December 24th but with Kylie Minogue, Robbie
Williams, Billie Piper and a handful of others
yet to play their hand anything is possible.
It's going to take something extraordinary to pip
the Irish lads but we have seen recently that
nothing is guaranteed. Let's hope it proves
to be a memorable musical Christmas for all the
right reasons.
As for this week, surely Eminem
has it in the bag. See you next week to see
if I am right.
JHME Music Correspondent
|
